The present invention relates to a cup attaching apparatus for attaching a cup used during the processing of an eyeglass lens to a subject lens.
As a preliminary operation before a subject lens is processed by a lens processing apparatus, a cup used during processing is attached to the lens by a cup attaching apparatus called an aligner or blocker. The cup attaching apparatus of the following type is available. A lens to which a mark is applied onto its optical center or the like using a lens meter is illuminated so that an image of the lens is projected onto a screen, and a cup attaching position is aligned by observing an image of the mark projected onto the screen and a reference scale. In such an apparatus, after the alignment of the lens is completed, an arm to which the cup has been attached in advance is manually pushed down to allow the cup to be pressed against the lens and suckingly fixed to the lens.
However, in the case of a lens coated with a reflection preventing film (anti-reflection film) or the like, the conventional cup attaching apparatus causes a problem in that if the force with which the cup is attached is too strong (too large), the lens is deformed and the coating is cracked. In addition, with the apparatus in which the arm is manually operated, since there are individual differences in the force with which the arm is pushed down to attach the cup, there are variations due to the difference in the operator.